On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 2:30 AM, Brion Vibber <brion(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
MZMcBride wrote:
Given that the Renameuser extension now uses the
job queue for renames
involving over 10,000 edits (and thus no longer locking the site for large
renames), is there any technical reason not to give administrators the
renameuser right?
Renaming a user who doesn't expect it would be very disruptive. This
isn't something we'd really want to give out to every sysop.
I'd much rather see a sensible system for self-renames (with decent
throttling, checks, etc)
I believe the immediate motivation for MZMcBride's request is actually
a discussion on enwiki that there weren't enough trusted individuals
to forcibly rename accounts containing sensitive information in their
username. If that is the goal, then a self-renaming function would
not address it.
To be honest, I don't really understand why one would use renaming
over revision delete to hide bad account names, but some ArbCom
members and similarly highly placed persons have stated that there are
circumstances where renaming is currently preferred over revision
delete.
-Robert Rohde